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2014-07-04 - Path of the Conqueror Part 2
Continued from: 2014-07-04 - Path of the Conqueror Part 1 Meanwhile Outside on the Street... Outside the Baxter Building there is a brief glimpse of a hovering Kang the Conqueror in his armor. He aims a gun, turning the power down some before blasting the side of the building which indents it and makes it bend inward. That in turn sets off the alarms. A seeming worm hole opens up behind him and he turns about and walks into it. It closes behind him, and that is when Kang the Conqueror ends up inside and all the chaos happens within with explosions, shootings, and shouting included. To Recap Inside... Nathaniel fires a few more shots from his right hand, slowly increasing the power, and tries to place himself between Kang and Mr. Fantastic. "I am quite sure you are lying. But even if it is true, there is no credible reason for you to oppose the coming of the Dark Age. It is our past, and it is the end of the Heroic Age and most of your greatest enemies." Meanwhile his left gauntlet is re-configuring into a deadlier weapon than a repulsor blaster. "Ah, but there are multiple timelines, some free standing, and some crumbling into non-existence." The blasts as they get stronger are blowing up more things, though Kang shifts to protect the portal and its equipment he is activating. It starts to whirl and swirl, soon opening a portal up. "Their actions bring the Dark Age, but there are other ways to bring about the Dark Age with less risk. These could bring about our own death, and the death of Earth as a whole." What appears to look like a lab opens up behind him within the portal. Mr. Fantastic struggles to stand up, "The Avengers, they will be coming. They will stop you." "Me? Or us?" And that is when Nathaniel will feel his repulsor blaster freeze up and his armor become frozen. When it starts to move it aims a weapon at Mr. Fantastic itself. "I doubt they will be having a pleasant welcoming surprise," Kang states warningly. Currently to the Avengers IDs... An emergency alert goes out to Active Avengers that the Baxter Building is under attack and just went into lockdown with Mr. Fantastic and Avengers Academy member Iron Lad trapped inside with the attacker; attacker identity unknown. Entrance must be forced. Dr. Pym roars along the street in his cel- plane. He throws the tiny craft into a climb, almost grazing the corners of the Baxter Building as it rises in a spiral. He searches as he flies for any nook or cranny he can squeeze through to enter. Inwardly he curses himself for not doing more for Nathaniel. Intruder unknown he thinks he has a good idea who it could be. He talks into his comm link quickly, "This is Pym, I'm outside seeking entry. The FF security is no joke. All Avengers report in and give ETAs please!" There is an Avenger at the scene but he doesn't know it. Steve Rogers, the man once known as Captain America... should be dead. And to nearly everyone at the moment, he is dead. Having been brought back to life by Project Lazarus. And his SHIELD surveillance team is having a freak out because of all this. They aren't allowed to interfere in his day to day activities by why the hell did he have to walk by the Baxter Building right when a literal disaster was going on. At first Steve just stares in awe at what is happening above him... then he acts, diving towards a pair of kids who are about to be hit by debris from the conflict above. He does it on pure instinct, that's been happening to him a lot lately. After getting the kids out of harms way he looks at the conflict above one again... he has to do something. He wants to do something. He just doesn't know what he can do. The force of the shot caused the front doors to shatter, and front desk gynoid receptionist Roberta gasps, "Oh, this is not good! Dr. Richards is trapped inside." She goes to step outside, "Is there anyone that can help? Hello?" Course, she's just going to ask. Meanwhile, inside, Mr. Fantastic is grabbing a large chunk of metal that was broken off to try and deflect the shot aimed at him from Iron Lad himself! "Can you override his control Iron Lad?!" His great mind is working quietly. The portal is stabilizing and will reveal the clone, he can't let this just happen! He has to get the place out of lockdown! Dr. Pym swoops down towards the entrance. His helmet seals as he enters the smoke and debris and he flies past Roberta and right to her desk. He's pretty sure Reed would have an override system here just for such emergencies. He starts hopping on the keyboard trying to bring up an override app. There's this to be said for smart people. They show a certain conceit. They know no one is smart enough to figure out a password that should be obvious to the smart folks. Hence Pym uses the ration of Pym particle to proton mass for his pins. What would Reed use ... Inside the building, Nathaniel is struggling to control his neuro-kinetic armor, which seems to respond much better to Kang's commands than his own, despite the older man being several yards away. Truth is, he is not all that surprised. Unfortunately the contingencies he had prepared in the case he lost his armor are in his lab in Gotham. He didn't expect Kang to attack the Baxter Building so directly. The Fantastic Four should be here to kick his ass, damn-it. "The armor is programmed to respond to our thoughts, Dr. Richards. Neuro-Kinesis. He has been doing it for centuries!" There are ways to block mental commands, Reed can figure them, he hopes. Fortunately a repulsor style force blast is not going to seriously injure someone with an elastic body. But it is still going to be painful. When the doors blast open, Steve uses his body to protect some of the people from the blown out glass and debris. After that happens he turns to the door and thinks for a moment. Just one moment of hesitation before he charges up to Roberta and says, "What do you need me to do?" He looks at Dr. Pym at the desk and stares at him for a moment.. something familiar about the guy. Dr. Pym hardly looks up at the man but says, "Evacuate everyone you can then get to safety pal. Thanks." The diminutive genius is still pressing buttons like mad, "No that isn't it .... 'suckitdoom'? 'suckitpym'?" Mr. Fantastic deflects some of the worse of the blast, but still goes flying back with a grunt while Kang concentrates on stabilizing the portal and releasing new nano-technology to form into robots to enter the portal once it opens to find the statis-unit he is searching for. Kang does not appear very worried, then again, he is wearing a blue mask over his face. Suddenly, Mr. Fantastic is bounding about, trying to prevent Iron Lad from getting a bead on him! Mr. Fantastic barely gets to his one working console, the main entrance, to punch in commands before he's dodging out of the way of exploded equipment! "No!" That leaves things on Pym's side to get the task done. It looks like part of the override went into effect, but only part. Pym would need to finish it...Roberta then lets out a soft sigh, "Oh good. Mr. Fantastic is being attacked. There has been a successful hacking attempt and explosions. I need someone to get inside and stop whatever is going on. It is never good things up there when something like this happens. Last time, it was Skrull," and she shakes her head at that. "This way please, I'll show you the door." That leaves Pym to struggle with the actual lock! Which isn't a password at all! Actually, his Avengers ID card starts beeping at him and asks for authorization. It is asking for Pym's password! Steve nodded to Dr. Pym, "I can do that, sir." He ran down the hallway and started searching the offices for people to get out of here. It seemed so natural for him to be helping like this. He always considered himself a good person but never once thought that he would be running into a building being attacked by super-villains to help out. Dr. Pym frowns and then says, "ID: Henry Pym. Authorization: sweetjanbaby." He blushes under the helmet. Passwords are supposed to be typed. Frigging Richards can't even set that up right. The secretary before he runs off, she goes to grab him, being unusually strong. "This way please," and shows him something called an elevator ladies and gentleman. "Top floor." She pushes him in, pushes the button he needs, and up he goes! Well, along with Pym if he hurries after typing in his password as the unlock process begins. Don't mess with the robot ladies Steve. Dr. Pym grows to about six inches tall the better to bound around as ... he left his plan downstairs. He waits for the doors to close and turns to his helper. "Stay behiiiiiiiiiiii ... " Hank grabs for his blaster and sticks it under the man's chin and yells, "I'm not having any melon farming clones on this melon farming elevator!" Really an assault on the Baxter Building and a clone? Why don't you just send in Galactus! That Kang is distracted means Iron Lad shoots are not particularly well aimed, so Mr. Fantastic should be fine. But the top floors of the building is going to end up full of holes. "Where are the other members of the Fantastic Four?" Ah, but of course Kang would have chosen a moment when they are not in the city, so he has to deal only with Reed. "Listen, you can't fight us just with your powers, we are wearing combat armors from 2,000 years in the future. They are just too powerful for most of the super-humans of this age." "Then stop blowing up my technology!" That's Mr. Fantastic's response. He soon leaps and grabs a device and sets it down as it starts sending out shockwaves! These shockwaves start messing with electronics. Kang shoots that out to pieces himself. He's paying more attention now, not necessarily a good thing. The elevator reaches the top floor quickly and the elevator doors slide open to reveal....Pym threatening Steve Rogers?! In either case, the lab door is clicking and clunking away with sounds as it soon starts to open up to reveal the chaos within. Steve puts his hands right up and goes, "Excuse me, sir. I don't know what you are talking about. I'm not a clone or anything like that, just a guy from Brooklyn who decided to help out when he saw all heck breaking loose." He looked down at the blaster, "My name is Steve Rogers. I'm just trying to help is all. I don't really know why you think I'm a clone or anything like that." "If you'd be so kind to take the ray gun away from my head. We can work on saving some people." He added, completely calm despite having some sort of weapon he knew nothing about held to his head. The voice, the stature, the very cadence of his words were all a match for Steve Rogers. Dr. Pym looks at Steve carefully for a moment and feels his paranoia getting kicked hard in the pants. But everything about this man rings true. He takes the gun away and then the doors are open. "Okay Steve. When I say go ... run for your life away from the supervillain. Find other people to help. Don't be a hero." Pym shrinks back down to a couple inches and bounds down the hall like a grasshopper. Nathaniel groans. He is trying not to hit Reed, his technology is a bit secondary, seriously. He winces when Kang destroys instantly Mr. Fantastic device. Maybe something that was going to mess up with whatever tech he is bringing? Then the elevator door opens and... "Steve Rogers, he is alive!" Just as Kang hinted. But where is his shield? Steve bound into action... to go find other people to help and to stay out of the superpowered fight that he had no hope in even slightly surviving (at least as far as he knows.) He was going to do exactly what Roberta asked and exactly what Ant Man suggested, 'Evacuate people' 'Don't be a hero.' Dr. Pym thinks, yep ... outfoxed again. Ninth smartest man in the world. I'm getting Goddamn tired of being tricked. Hank is pulling off his helmet as he runs. He's also growing to about seven feet. Yes keep you eyes on Andre the Giant PhD. He takes his helmet and jams it over Nathaniel's helmet. His neural interface /could/ block any outside signals. It seems his armor is being overridden as Nathaniel wouldn't want to shoot Reed. Hank can sympathize with wanting to shoot Reed at times though. The robots found the cryo-statis unit they were looking for and have already extracted it. It has already begun to defrost, the hiss of the release, as the lockdown starts to undo. Some of the robots start to come out to face off with Giant-Man. Super strength, super durability, and enhanced reflexes. They will not be easy to fight, and there are three of them, in this confined space. Mr. Fantastic, "My lab!" Though he is soon grabbing another piece of tech, "Rama-Tutt....you jerk!" And he is soon shooting what appears to be muscles at Kang the Conqueror. However, when they exploded against his shield, there is a roar of pain from Kang! They are special nano-technology electros that are meant to twist technology against the user. "Crude, but creative!" The anger in his tone, "I expect this from Stark, not you Reed." He jerks himself through the spasms and frees himself from the technology once it is purged by his own. "And...," he pauses. "You must be pulling a joke! It has to be my mission that Rogers comes back from the dead for? I do not find this amusing. Rather, why don't you stay dead Rogers?" And a hand is being raised to blast toward Steve. Mr. Fantastic's eyes widen, "Captain?!" And he is soon leaping toward Steve, his elastic body trying to jerk or push him out of the way of the on-coming blast! Steve is getting rather confused with all this 'He's Alive' poppycock that people keep pulling on him here. Of course he's alive, he's been alive since he was born. Plus he didn't know these people... well except for Mr. Fantastic but that was by reputation not by having actually meeting the guy before. But what he wasn't going to let happen is have a man like Mr. Fantastic sacrifice himself for him. As the blast starts to fire Steve is on the move. He ducks down and then leaps towards Mr. Fantastic, grabbing the stretching man by his shoulders as he flips in air and pulls Reed with him away from the blast. Good idea Pym, except the Iron Lad armor is made of nanobots, each of them is attuned to Kang/Nathaniel's brain waves. The helmet might block signals to the machines forming Iron Lad's helmet, but not the rest of the suit. Still, Nathaniel recovers control of a part of his armor. He has little time to reconfigure it into something useful, but he sends a few commands for it begin to duplicate Reed's anti-tech device. Since Kang was so 'nice' to hack and download the information in the computers, Nathaniel has the blueprints at hand. And where is Rogers going? That behavior is not normal. Maybe he is a Skrull. Weren't they supposed to invade this year? Dr. Pym continues his run and attempts to body slam Kang. "What you time travelers don't seem to grasp is you know what will (probably) happen to us but not yourselves. You can fail here ... die. Otherwise every timeline would be ruled by a Kang! Take that despot!" And that is when Steve Rogers lands on his feet away form the blast, wearing a Christmas wrapping of Mr. Fantastic about his body while being hugged by the man. The two stare at each other. "I hope you aren't a clone," the man says. "Because we certainly missed you old friend." But then Mr. Fantastic is unwrapping himself and goes, "We have to save the clone though! Well, it's all really complicated, you were sort of dead during all this, but we have to stop Kang the Conqueror!" He then tosses what looks like a ray-gun to Steve! Of course it isn't, it's actually a particle distruptor, but it could provide quite a punch! The Baxter building outside is dented in on the upper floors, the front doors from the impact and a number of the windows have shattered. The secretary is on the first floor with a sigh, "Well, least they got it unlocked." That is when She-Hulk comes stomping through at the summons via her Avengers ID Card and Pym himself. "Oh good, the muscle. It appears Captain America and Giant-Man or is that Ant-Man right now - already went upstairs." She then goes to show She-Hulk the elevator. "The attacker now that the lab is unlocked has been reported to be Kang the Conqueror. The lab is in disarray. Please assist." And up the elevator She-Hulk goes and when it slides open once more, CHAOS! Kang the Conqueror stands in the back by an open portal as the clone of Black Widow, swollen stomach is being pulled out of the cryo-statis. Mr. Fantastic is unwrapping himself from around...STEVE ROGERS?! Pym is facing off against three of Kang's robots that are working to stop him and slow Pym from body slamming Kang. These super strength adversaries are being a pain in the tush (not literally YET) for Pym! And Nathaniel, he's fighting to try and not blast his allies, which he is currently about to blast poor Pym in the tush! As She-Hulk arrives, she can see for some weird reason Iron Lad is wearing Ant-Man's helmet on top of his own helmet. But it is Pym's fault. On the other hand his shot at the semi-giant man misses, since he is feeding conflicting telemetry to the gauntlets now he can control a small part of the armor. It's always Pym's fault. Everything is Pym's fault. As Jen storms into the lab she doesn't double take. Or triple take. She about quadruple takes. "Somebody got a clue map to this battle, because I'm not sure who to smash right now!" Well, the robots. Obviously, the robots are smashworthy, and she's stalking over to rescue Pym. Who probably has the clue map anyway. "Not a clone, sir. I don't get why people keep asking me that," Steve said as he looked at the ray gun he was giving by Mister Fantastic, "Also I've never been dead and I don't get why people keep asking me that as well. But I'll do my best to help, I'm not a superhero like the rest of you are but I'll try to stay out of the way." This day was becoming really trippy for Steve. All these super heroes and stuff and they all seemed to know him, and what's worse is that he's just some freelance artist from Brooklyn and they seem to want -him- of all people to help defeat some guy named Kang the Conqueror. Weirdest part though was Steve felt right at home here, like its something he's done his entire life. Steve aimed the ray gun that Mr. Fantastic gave him at one of the robots attacking Pym, he was sure he never fired a gun before in his life but if he hadn't... he's a natural, his accuracy impeccable. Dr. Pym drops down to a half inch and tries to run past the robots. "So Pym particles are a lost technology 2000 years from now? How unfortunate. For you ... you techno-autochratic tin plated dictator! If you hadn't found your ancestor's machines yu'd be a pump jockey." Pym tries to get under Kang and grow with his fist aimed for his blue chinny chin chin. The particle disruptor isn't meant to literally punch someone like a ray gun, it's meant to dissolve particles upon impact and that is what has the punch! And when that disruptor hits Kang's shield, it sizzles and pops! Before it reforms where it was. He sends a mental command to his robots to hurry it up, as one of them starts to carry the Black Widow clone out of the portal and into the lab, inconsiderate of her swollen stomach. Kang goes flying upward, and activates his jets as he then shoots Pym with his repulsors which if/when they connect will have a powerful punch to them themselves! "I wanted to do this myself, it seemed so impersonal otherwise. Clone or not, she was a human being." The woman though is then dropped to her feet, as she sways and groans, unsure of where she is or what is happening. Her eyes are sunken in and she appears very sickly and weak. But suddenly, a robotic arm goes through her swollen stomach, and she cries out in pain as blood starts to gush and then drip out even as she drops to the ground, breath haggard. How she still survives from such an attack is...unknown. Mr. Fantastic's eyes are wide and horrified, "Clones or not, it wasn't your right to just murder them Kang!" Mr. Fantastic is launching himself as the robots to try and smash the two apart near the Black Widow clone to break them together on impact, using their own strength against them. She-Hulk is finding the robots strong, but she is handle those three, smashing away. Nathaniel can feel his device starting to finish developing, and there is a mental 'ding' when completed. He can defeat Kang this way or at least send him retreating! And...defeat himself while he is at it...oh, the irony. "Uh... no they aren't, Dr. Pym," mentions Nathaniel. "It is just they are incompatible with... er, what?" What is a pump jockey? Nevermind, Richard's disruptor is complete and he activates it. And of course his own armor is the first victim, but that was the main objective. Besides Kang, he was the most heavily armed person in the room. Besides, he wants to make sure Kang doesn't take him if he has to escape. "I am free," he mentions, chunks of his armor falling down or going into liquid state. "Oh hell... he is going to kill the children! Stop him!" Steve Rogers gets a BROAD grin from Jen, even if she's pretty sure he's a clone now. Or something. Smash. She tugs the robot away from Natasha and throws it into the other ones. Oh, and glances around the lab for something vaguely Shield-shaped, because SOMEBODY is under-equipped as well as under-dressed. Dr. Pym is struck by the repulsors and knocked back. He is still growing though and attempts to lash out at the tyrant of time with his foot. he hits the floor well over ten feet in height. It could hurt if it connects. "Noooooooo. Natasha!" Steve fires off burst from the gun at the robots that She-Hulk and Mr. Fantastic are handling as he himself charges towards them himself. He can't believe this is happening, he's fighting along side super-heroes and a woman, who seemed familiar to him has died. He doesn't know what to do about this. It's all so much. Just before he makes it to robots Steve stops dead in his tracks, grabs his head and screams out in pain as he collapses to his knees. The robots are dissolving under the attacks of Mr. Fantastic and She-Hulk, and Mr. Fantastic is trying to think of all the medical equipment he needs already and then Steve is screaming. "No...no...this can't be happening!" He looks broken for a moment, but then he is racing toward Natasha to get the woman away from the growing Pym, so she isn't crushed. Shulkie can luckily handle herself. But Mr. Fantastic calls out, "Get Mr. Rogers!" Kang's shield starts to sputter and his arm starts to weaken as he goes flying against a wall with an umpf! It isn't like him to get hurt by something like that, with how powerful his shields are. "Nathaniel...," he growls out in warning, but suddenly a black portal opens up behind him and he falls into it, before it quickly closes. It leaves his technology behind, oozing and destroyed. Over time, Nathaniel should be able to repair his armor as the device shuts down after it did too much damage to itself. Dr. Pym shrinks back to something like normal and runs to Natasha's side. He reaches in his pocket for the miniaturized first aid kit. "Oh damn, damn." She-Hulk catches that, and moves quickly, staying between any attacks and the fallen Steve as she rushes to his side. He's probably a clone. Dead Nat is hopefully a clone. Hopefully. But she can't think about that now. Steve's more important. "Steve?" she asks as she moves to support him, shielding him still with her body. Nathaniel's armor begins to self-repair the second the device is turned off. A good number of the nanobots are fried for good, but the bulk of them are already working, and will rebuild to 100 percent capabilities within hours. He is going to build one of those disruptors with just 21st century tech to keep it at hand just for Kang. His life is about to become much more complicated, since now his older self knows how to find him. Now Nathaniel needs to hide, and he can't rely so much in the neuro-kinetic armor. This time he was lucky he was just a secondary target. "He will come back for me," he states coolly, sanding up. "Soon." The death of the clone doesn't affect him much; Reed believed she was doomed anyway, and Mr. Fantastic is always right. Still he goes to join Pym in the case he can help, and to give him back his helmet. Steve stops screaming and inhales deeply, "It's okay Jen, I'm fine." he says. He doesn't know why he called her Jen, he'd never met her as far as he was concerned but he then says, "I just remembered something very important... I remembered that I died." He looked at Jen and said, "You guys all know me, huh? That's why everyone keeps asking if I was a clone. You think I'm dead. And I was... weird." He looked over at Natasha-clone and his eyes filled with sadness, "Which brings up the point of why am I alive and she has to die." Mr. Fantastic is working hard with Pym to try and stop the bleeding from the woman's stomach. The clone of Natasha can barely open her eyes, and she moans in pain, blood leaking from the corner of her mouth. "The...babies...," worry first for them rather than herself. And Mr. Fantastic doesn't have a scanner, but seeing where the entry and exit wound appeared..., "Don't worry about that," he says gently, pain in the lines of his face. "Tony....I wanted to...," and the Natasha clone coughs, "...to make it work. I tried...so har....," and the breath seems to leave her, her body stilling. No tears run down Mr. Fantastic's face, but his eyes look like he wants to cry. "My fault," his voice cracking. "I was supposed to keep the clones safe. They...didn't deserve to die like this." His voice breaks, "What do I tell Tony now?" He was struggling to tell him before, but now? It is even more difficult and unavoidable. "Steve." Soft, that. It's not the real Nat, although it still hurts...still a real person, even if not the original, and Jen's not even thinking about the babies. She'll do her best to get drunk. Later. "Come on. Let's...let's get home." Dr. Pym claps a hand on Mr. Fantastic's shoulder. "They didn't deserve any of this." Nathaniel sees the damage wrought, and realizes, he needs time to think, he needs time to protect himself who is still alive now. He goes to gather what he can of his armor while only in a set of boxers, and after an awkward moment asks to borrow a communicator or phone from Mr. Fantastic. Mr. Fantastic drags himself from his own depression long enough to say, "The receptionist Roberta can assist you. I...will need to speak to you later. Come back...next week, please." He needs time to think, and right now he holds the dead, exhausted looking Natasha clone within his arms, her stomach having slowed bleeding at this point. After Nathaniel leaves, Mr. Fantastic says, "I should...be the one to tell Tony. They weren't his biological children, they were...clones of him. Her reproductive system was altered and...in either case, it doesn't matter. I should tell him myself as...they died under my care and protection." He hangs his head down, looking older than he normally does. "Rama-Tutt...Kang the Conqueror...is a monster, what he did here today. He cannot just get away with this," Mr. Fantastic says firmly in the end. And this is what Wasp enters after finally able to respond to the emergency alert she got via her Avengers ID Card. Mr. Fantastic's lab is trashed from explosions and Giant-Man, and She-Hulk has an arm about...Steve Rogers?! It is a lot to take in, to say the least, and she likely switches out the elevator with the departing Nathaniel Richards...in boxers. Dr. Pym looks at Jan but is at a loss for words. Steve Rogers is honestly trying to process all of this. He doesn't remember these people, him calling She-Hulk, Jen, a moment ago was a flash of a memory that he doesn't have. He did the same thing when he encounter Wolverine just a little while ago. He looks at the assembled heroes and while he felt like he belonged, as far as he was concerned he was just an freelance artist who occasionally stopped a purse snatcher when he saw it. He was out of his league and while he felt like somehow he knew the dead woman, she looked so familiar, he felt like he was intruding in their moment. Intruding in their world. When he finally found words he said softly, "I'm sorry for everyone's loss. I'm no stranger to that myself. I wish I could have done more to help. I feel like I could have done more. But... I'm not a super-hero and I guess I shouldn't have pretended to be one." A loss for words. That is an appropriate turn of a phrase for this particular situation. As Jan rushes in...in her civilian clothing, no less, the sight of the carnage in the lab is dramatic. That is certain. Seeing Natasha...no...her clone, for Janet is one of the few that knows which one is which....that is shocking. However, seeing Steve. Standing. Very much alive. That just tips the scales for poor Janet. The rushing Avenger just pauses...and sits down. Right in the middle of the lab, ad-mist the chaos. She just has to sit. Pym knows there is nothing he can do to save the children at this point, so he rises up and takes is leave, touching Wasp on the shoulder as he departs. He also needs time to cope, though he leaves with one last look at Steve, still unsure if he is clone or real thing at this point. Mr. Fantastic moves to stand, lifting the woman in his arms and taking her over to a table where she can be properly tended to. He turns around, blood on his uniform as he looks at Janet. "It appears you were a little later for this party, but I'm sure you are wondering what is going on." Then toward Steve, "And we need to run tests on you to see if you are a real thing or a clone Mr. Rogers. Because if you are the real thing, you are very much a superhero, and you are with family. If you are a clone, then I quite apologize for you getting drawn into all of this mess." "I think he's the real thing," Jen says, perhaps surprisingly. Then again, her training does help her to read people. Lawyers have an advantage on that. Oh S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Project Lazarus is so not going to let Reed do those scans. Steve's mental state is so fragile that they'd be impressed he didn't have an aneurysm when he finally remembered that he had actually died. He'd find a message waiting from him from Agent 13 that would inform him of what was going on and to stay out of it. "I'm not a clone, and I really wish you people would stop saying that! I'm Steve Rogers, I'm a freelance artist from Brooklyn and people keep talking to me like they know me!" Steve finally bursts out into anger. This whole day has been way too much for him, "First that Logan guy, now you people! I'm not a clone, I'm not a super-hero! I'm..." He trails off because things are starting to weave together in his mind, he's not a genius like Reed or Hank, but his mind processes things very quickly it's why he's so tactically and strategically brilliant. He remembers being dead, being shot, he remembers waking up on an operating table before being put under again and being called Lazarus, "Wait.... who do you people think I am?" Janet looks up from her spot on the floor, a dazed expression upon her face. For a moment, she looks like a lost little girl, the confusion and shock in her expression painfully obvious. It is only after a couple of moments when Janet remembers who she is and, more importantly, what she has to do. Janet picks herself off the floor...the lost girl look replaced with a look of seriousness. Janet's business look. Her voice comes out straight...which is a surprise, even to her. "From the look of things, it looks like the Natasha clone was attacked and was killed, along with its children." Funny...she called the clone an it, rather than a she. "I...don't know why the lab is destroyed, but I am sure you will tell me." Finally, Janet Van Dyne....fashion designer and known chairperson of the Avengers turns to Steve...that hard business edge softening to typical Jan. A soft smile pulls at the corners of her lips, as Jan seems almost on the verge of tears. "and you, my dear sweet Steve Rogers. You are correct. You are Steve Rogers. You are an amazing artist. But...you are also so much more. For you, Steve...whether you know it or not...are the foundation for every hero. You...are Captain America." "Kang," She-Hulk says, as if there needs to be no further explanation. At some levels? There really doesn't. She seems relaxed now, although emerald eyes flick towards Steve...and subtly she moves her hand into the perfect position to catch him if he faints. Mr. Fantastic says, "Here, let me give you my..contact information." He moves to get that information, in a pile of debris, and grabs it for Steve. "You can contact me when you are ready to talk, if you want to figure out the truth. But only when you are ready. There has...been enough pain and suffering today." He goes to put his card in Steve's hands. "If Jan is correct, he is the real thing, it is a heavy burden to bear Wasp. Give him...some time to think about it. If he's ready to face such a thing. He was finally freed of it, he has a successor now that Mr. Stark selected himself in accordance to his wishes." And with that statement from Janet, Steve's eyes go wide. Even Logan had skirted around the idea that he was Captain America, instead trying to sell him on the fact that he was a soldier from World War II and they had fought together. He's had so many dreams about it. He just assumed it was the idle fantasies of a mind that wished it was doing more than it was. But here he was, standing among the Avengers in the Headquarters of the Fantastic Four. In his mind, these people don't lie. At least not something like that. And yes, Steve almost faints from this realization. Lucky She-Hulk was there to prop him up when he lost his balance as his mind swam at this revelation. He shook his head as the card was pushed into his hand... this was too much. There was no way this could be possible. And yet it explained so very much. The inconsistencies of his life. His strength, his fighting ability, why some things felt so natural to him even though they were things he never did. He thinks of the Natasha-Clone, "Did I know her? The woman who died today? Was she a friend?" Janet is honest...because honesty is what is needed at this point. "You know Natasha. Natasha is still alive and well, though not here at the moment. That..." With that, she nods to the clone on the table. "That was a copy. An imperfect one. I've seen where she came from. No one knew her." Mr. Fantastic frowns at that, "No one....," he sighs. This isn't the time for arguments, but he looks sadly back at the clone. "Human life lost...." He walks over to get some sort of tarp to cover the woman for now at least. "She didn't deserve this," he says quietly to himself. "Steve, I really think...that it would help if you came back to the mansion." Get him into familiar surroundings. That's what you do when somebody's having memory issues. This time, she steps around to offer him her hand. "Coming?" Steve' touches his head slightly and considers everything he's been told. His eyes well up with tears but he doesn't fully cry. He can't remember who Natasha is, but if she was a friend... even her clone's death effects him, "I... I can't process this. Not now. This is so much. But thank you for telling me Janet." Again no one had told him Janet's name, he just remembered it. Honestly if his SHIELD surveillance team wasn't crapping themselves worrying that he was going to die they'd realize this was the greatest victory since he has been resurrected... he may not remember who he is, but he's remembering all these little things. A month ago he didn't even remember who Dum Dum Dugan was... today he's called to former comrades by their real names with no prompting. He nods at what Reed says, "If it's all true and I am who you all think I am... then I should have been able to save her. No one should have died. Clone or not." Steve would leave here, a bit disillusioned by what he was part of, but also emboldened by what he had learned. He was really Captain America... then things were going to change. He looked at She-Hulk and nods, "Yeah that sounds like a good idea for now."